My husband Joe and I
just came back from Costa Rica, and I'd like to tell you about it. My hedge a
gram is about my life as an illustrator, and right now I'm about to begin a new
book. Maybe it's a good time for you to start a book or story too.
The book I'm working on probably will be titled The
Umbrella. It's like a rain forest version of a book I retold 11 years ago called
The Mitten. The Mitten was suggested by three teachers and The Umbrella was
suggested by teachers too.
In Costa Rica we went to a unique rain forest high in
the mountains in Monteverde. It is called a cloud forest because it is almost
always in the clouds. The trees look like they're covered with long green fur.
It's really moss and ferns. Each tree has about 100 air plants or epiphytes
living on it, and there are vines and roots trailing from plants living on the
tree's crown or top.
Sometimes a really big clump of plants moves and it
turns out to be a sloth. A sloth is a strange beast that lives in treetops. Its
fur is tinted green from the little plants that live on it. Sometimes the trees
are covered with flowers and fruit. Sometimes the fruit moves and it turns out
to be a colorful bird, green like the leaves, and red and yellow like the fruit.
Many animals have a fringed outline and a green color so they blend in, like the
iguana. The biggest iguana we saw was about 5 feet long, although a lot of that
length was its tail. I liked seeing walking stick insects and leaf insects. One
looks exactly like a long thin stick and the other looks like a leaf. Only a
skilled observer notices these insects. Our guide had to show me.
I liked wearing green and brown clothes and walking
silently down the cloud forest paths. By blending in, you can get closer to
birds and animals.
I have lots of images from my trip floating around in
my head. I'm going to try and re-create my experience as I fall asleep each
night. Sometimes this helps me be creative with my story. Try it! Good luck!